


I've Been Upside Down (i don't wanna be the right way round)

by everywinter



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 09:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20486510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everywinter/pseuds/everywinter
Summary: Sungjin and Nayeon's relationship told in snippets.Same high fantasy AU as "Chase the Day".





	I've Been Upside Down (i don't wanna be the right way round)

**Author's Note:**

> Completely and utterly self-indulgent, my knowledge if Twice is very minimal and surface level.

“I’m sorry.”

Jae’s brow wrinkles. “What for?”

“For not being able to find the words to call you back.” The lingering guilt makes the words stick in Sungjin’s throat. “There were so many things that I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get any of them out. I was so scared of saying the wrong thing and then…”

“And then Wonpil interrupted because he’s an impatient little shit.” Jae’s fond smile simultaneously makes Sungjin feel better and worse. “Don’t worry about it, dude. Our relationship transcends words. I couldn’t hear you, but I knew you were there anyway. You’re always watching out for us.”

Sungjin lets Jae fondly smack him on the shoulder and playfully punches him back, ignoring the suspicious look Wonpil immediately levels in their direction when his fist makes a ringing noise against Jae’s armour.

Jae waves dismissively at him from across the room and Wonpil nods slowly before turning his attention back to the gnome he’d been playing cards with. The distance of where Jae’s sitting at the bar to where Wonpil’s sitting on the other end of the tavern is the furthest the two of them have been from each other since the resurrection ritual. Wonpil’s been even clingier than usual and Jae just accepts it, seems to relish in it, rather than complaining and pushing him away the way he usually does.

And he totally gets it. Everyone’s been on edge lately, twitchier and more alert than usual, less willing to take risks. People are injured in battle all the time, but it’s nothing a quick healing spell and maybe a couple days lazing around in the next town won’t fix. Jae hadn’t even wanted to buy the diamond, insisting that it was a waste of their party funds, but Dowoon had thought that it was better safe than sorry and Jae always caved to their youngest.

(The next city they get to, the diamond is immediately replaced and no one says a word about it.)

Jae runs his hand over Sungjin’s hair and bounces back over to where Wonpil is. The second Jae gets over to Wonpil, he leans over for a kiss and they both immediately relax now that they’re within arm’s reach again. There’s no one else in the room, in the world, but the two of them and Sungjin feels a sharp twinge if longing in his chest. But when Jae says something to Wonpil that makes him toss his head back and laugh, Sungjin smiles to himself too.

* * *

The first time they meet, she’s got her back to Sungjin. The first thing he notices is the fall of ink black hair to her waist, and the second are the horns. They’re just as black and curling pretty and regal around her head like a crown. She has elf-ears, big and pointed just like his, and a there’s a thick, typical tiefling tail swishing behind her as she scratches the giant griffin in front of her until it purrs like a kitten.

She spins around to look at him and Sungjin feels his heart pounding in his chest when she smiles at him, sharp teeth winking back at him in the sunlight.

“Hello,” Her eyes are as black as her hair and her horns, but her cheeks are rosy from the sunlight. “are you in training too?”

Sungjin nods slowly, torn between staring at the little tiefling or the giant beast behind her. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before?”

“I’m new.” She turns back around to pet her griffin’s beak tenderly and the creature closes its yellow eyes and leans into her touch. “I tried to join when I was younger, but my parents wanted me to wait until my bond with this guy was stronger.”

“I’m Sungjin.”

For some reason his face flushes when she turns around to look at him again, cheeks puffing up sweetly when she smiles. “I’m Nayeon and this is Blue.”

Sungjin reaches to shake her outstretched hand, smaller and callused in different ways from his, and he knows he’s lost.

* * *

“How did you know?” Wonpil asks him when they’re huddled together during one of their watches. It’s only their second actual mission as a team and they’re still having a little bit of trouble applying their training to real life scenarios.

Sungjin shoots him an exasperated look. “You know I hate it when you do this. Ask a full question.”

“How did you know that you were in love with Nayeon?”

Wonpil’s sitting too close to him, staring at him intently in an effort not to glance towards their snoring paladin. Sungjin doesn’t ask about what the two of them have, but there’s a sort of intimacy between the two of them that he sees in the way Jae complains but always crumbles to Wonpil’s requests. The way Wonpil always seems able to figure out and accommodate for Jae’s moods before the man even realizes them himself. They haven’t taken the actual step into romance though, if the frequency in which Wonpil disappears with beautiful men and women, only to stumble back stated and sleepy in the wee hours of the morning, is any indication.

“I don’t know if I can answer that for you.” He says slowly, shoving Wonpil playfully when he wrinkles his noise. “You can’t compare what Nayeon and I have with what the two of you do. We’re not nearly so…”

“Volatile?” Wonpil offers sheepishly.

“Hot and cold.” Sungjin agrees with a smile. “I think no matter what, it’s always a little scary. You’re never as vulnerable as when you’re in love, but as disgustingly sappy as it is, it makes you strong too. I’d do anything for her.”

Wonpil’s quiet and Sungjin knows him well enough to know that he’s probably thinking about the way Jae had pretty much cleaved a bugbear in half earlier that morning when Wonpil had been knocked to the ground. The voice in his head urging him to give the two of them a push sounds unnervingly like Nayeon’s and Sungjin has to fight the little smile that threatens to spread across his face at the mere thought of her.

“Sweet Sune, I really hope that I don’t look nearly as goofy as you do right now.” Wonpil says, but he’s grinning like a loon.

“Trust me, you look way dumber.” Sungjin grabs the back of Wonpil’s neck and ruffles his hair harshly. The long black strands tangle in his fingers and Wonpil shouts out loudly enough that, even though Sungjin immediately smacks a hand over his mouth, Younghyun makes a unhappy noise in his sleep and rolls over to curl up tighter between Jae and Dowoon.

* * *

Tieflings generally have an equal lifespan to humans. It’s something that Sungjin’s acutely aware of whenever they go a stretch of time without seeing each other and there’s a new maturity in her eyes, or a wrinkle that appears by her lips when she beams up at him.

Maybe it’s because of this that everything Nayeon does seems to flash with extra life. Her laugh is brighter, her smile bigger, even the hugs she gives Sungjin feel warmer.

She laughs when he mentions it to her.

“Tieflings run hot.” She tells him with a wink.

Sungjin wishes he had something witty to say back to her, but nothing comes to mind and he only manages a giddy smile before he leans down to kiss her again.

He feels fangs scrape against his lip as she laughs and Sungjin wishes he could somehow bend time to make this moment last forever.

“I love you.” Sungjin breathes against her lips.

Nayeon almost brains him with one of her horns when she throws her head back in laughter. “Oops, sorry, I love too.”

“You’re a hazard,” He says, batting away one of the jangling gold chains on horn. “who keeps on buying you these ridiculous things?”

“Dunno, some dumb, beefy, elf.” She says breezily, letting him wrap an arm around her waist continuing to lead her on their walk. “Short dark hair, big brown eyes, insists on only the bare necessities.”

“Sounds like my kind of guy.” Nayeon pulls something round and shiny out of her pocket and slips it into his hand. “What’s this?”

“Don’t start playing into stereotypes now.” She unlatches the top and reveals the delicate watch-plate beneath clear crystal. “I thought about buying you one of those fancy new wristwatches that are in style, but I knew it wouldn’t last a second into your Rage. You can just keep it in your pocket.”

“You want me to have to lug even more shit around?”

“It’s not shit, it’s useful! It doubles as a compass and it tells time.”

“Jae has an enchanted bracelet that does the same. It tells us the date too.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Seriously? That’s so old-school.”

Sungjin pinches her nose. “It was a gift from his grandfather.”

Nayeon’s expression softens. “Well, this is a gift from me, so if you don’t carry it my feelings will be hurt.”

“My absolute worst nightmare.”

“Jerk.” She steps gently on his foot. “I’m serious though, keep it with you.”

Another flip of her clever fingers reveals a hidden compartment underneath. One of Blue’s downy feathers is inside along with a lock of her hair.

“Don’t lose this shit, I had to pay really good money to get it charmed. If anything ever happens to you, it’ll alert me through this.” She taps on one of the rings on her finger, tucks the watch into one his pockets. “Stop running into trouble, you big lug.”

“It’s your problem that you keep insisting on following me, you mother hen.”

“I don’t know how you get your damn boots on without me.”

* * *

When Junhyeok leaves, it tears them all apart.

It’s a shock to Wonpil’s system, having to be the only cleric, becoming _the _cleric. The pressure leaves him wide eyed and almost catatonic. Jae’s so angry all the time, no one’s seen Younghyun come out of his room in days, and Dowoon’s just scared.

Sungjin has no idea how to feel.

“Holy, even I had trouble getting up here.” Nayeon says, easing herself next to Sungjin on the tree branch. “I know for a fact you grew up in a city, how the shit did you climb up?”

“Stubbornness.” He can’t manage the smile he usually has for her. “Nayeyon, I’m really not in the mood right now.”

“I know.” She said, swinging her feet back and forth. “He’s really gone, huh?”

Sungjin grits his teeth. “Why ask me if you already know the answer?”

“I wanted to give you the chance for growth.”

Usually he’d laugh, but right now he can’t even manage a smile.

Sungjin’s already made up his mind to leave and find solitude elsewhere, but Nayeon seems perfectly content where she’s blocking his access to the trunk and he isn’t really in the mood to risk dropping 15 feet out of the air. But she doesn’t speak again, so he doesn’t either.

The afternoon sun’s merciless and the air humid, but Nayeon seems perfectly happy in the heat. Her feet swing gently beside him with her tail wrapped securely around the branch.

It makes him even angrier and Sungjin goes to snap at her to leave, but the words get caught in his throat and the snarl turns into something like a sob. There’s no pity in her expression, just warm understanding but it doesn’t do anything to keep the rage boiling under his skin from rising to the surface.

He jumps, doesn’t even really feel the impact, and takes off running. He’s not sure where he’s going, he just knows that he wants to be alone. Just knows that he doesn’t have it inside of him to keep from taking out his anger on the closest person in his vicinity.

Sungjin’s not sure how far he’s gone, but when his rage fades, he can’t see the tree where he stared from anymore. What was probably only minutes, feels like hours.

“You’re bleeding.” Blue lands with a soft thump a couple feet in front of him Nayeon perched naturally on his back. “Are you going to go any further? Because I don’t want to waste a spell fixing you, if you’re just going to get all banged up again.”

She dismounts and closes the short distance between them. There’s a little vine wrapped around one of her horns and one of the pins keeping her hair back has disappeared. Nayeon’s expression hasn’t changed from last he saw her.

The ache in his body’s settling in and he’s emotionally drained. “What do you want from me, Nayeon?”

“I just don’t want you to have to be alone. I know you feel like you have to stay strong for your teammates, but you don’t have to for me.” He feels the tingle and itch of magic fixing his cuts when her hand meets his. “Let someone else take care of you for once, Sungjinnie, let me take care of you.”

It’s like permission is all he needs and he’s crying into her shoulder, getting snot and tears all over her perfect hair, and all Nayeon does is hold him and whisper soothing nonsense to him. She eventually guides him over to the shade and they curl up together, Blue at their backs.

Eventually the impending nightfall and their grumbling stomachs send them back to the guild hall.

Hand in hand.

* * *

“Where is she?”

Jihyo draws to her full height and scowls up at Sungjin, violet eyes flashing. “She’s alive, she’s going to be okay, and if you barge in there with that bullshit of yours, you’re just going to make her feel even worse about the situation.”

He puffs up in response, but Jihyo gives Sansa an almost imperceptible nod and an unnatural calm falls over him.

“I’m going to kill you when this wears off.” His voice comes out wooden.

“You can try.” Sana says, fiddling with the chain on her holy symbol. “Now, do you feel okay enough to go and see her without causing a fuss, or do I have to Command you to leave?”

Sungjin takes a deep breath in through his nose. “I’m okay.”

Sana looks to Jihyo again for confirmation before both step aside for him to pass through.

The room smells like something sharp and cold, a familiar sort of sting. Nayeon’s on the bed, unnaturally pale, black hair a messy, tangled braid falling over her right side, a mirror to the strange ropey scar snaking around her left side. It covers her chest all the way up to her temple.

“We’re lucky it missed her eye.” Sana says, startling him. “Necromancy is volatile at the best of times, and the stupid amateur that got Nayeon was dabbling in something she had no business dabbling in.”

“Is she in pain?” Her face is relaxed, but Sungjin knows it’s from a spell. Nayeon sleeps spread out like a starfish.

“No, she shouldn’t feel anything. Jihyo put her to sleep so I could heal her without her feeling anything, but there’s something about it that seems to be resisting healing.” She rubs her nose. “Mina dispelled it as fast as she could, but it was a fast working spell…”

Sungjin finds himself tuning out. He knows they would have done everything they could to help Nayeon, they love her just as much as he does. Everyone who’s ever met her can’t help but be charmed by her.

He gently touches her lips where the scar almost bisects her mouth. It’s unfamiliar, but her skin still burns with tiefling warmth. She snorts a little in her sleep, familiar, and the sound that comes from his lips is somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Her horns aren’t buffed to a shine the way she usually likes them and Sungjin can already hear her complaining about how it doesn’t feel right.

Sungjin tries his best to settle down comfortably into the chair next to the bed. He’ll grab her grooming kit when she wakes up, but for now he watches the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

* * *

The biggest hurdle in their relationship is Blue.

No matter how careful Sungjin is approaching him, how diligently he follows Nayeon’s instructions, how many treats he brings, the griffin hisses at him and flares his wings protectively in front of his mama. It’s been months and he’s only just accepted Sungjin within three feet of him.

Sungjin gets it. As stupid as it sounds, he’s not happy sharing Nayeon with this overgrown pigeon either.

“Oh baby, it’s okay,” Nayeon coos, rubbing the feathers flared angrily around his neck. “Sungjin’s nice! We like him, remember? He brought you ferrets!”

Blue stops the aggressive noises he’s making, but he doesn’t stop glaring at Sungjin. If looks could kill, Sungjin would have been chopped up into easily consumable griffin sized pieces.

“Okay, Sungjinnie, come here.” She waves him over cheerily, and it takes every ounce of self-control for Sungjin to make himself come within biting distance of the sharp beak and glaring yellow eyes still stabbing into him. “Blue likes it when you scratch him right here at the base of the wings. Instant friends, right Blue?”

His feathers are soft, not surprising considering Nayeon is as meticulous in the care of her companion as she is in taking care of herself. He’s helped her pack enough times to know that most of the grooming products she keeps in her pack, she also uses to keep Blue in tip-top shape.

Sungjin shoots Sune a quick prayer, maybe traveling with Wonpil has rubbed off on him, and tries his best to slow his heartbeat when Nayeon takes her hand away from his.

“He’s purring, Sungjinnie, this is progress!” The noise reminds him of sandpaper over glass, but he takes Nayeon’s word for it.

He keeps scratching, and the noise gets louder. Nayeon throws her arms around him, almost deafening him with her shout of joy. Blue swivels his head unnervingly far around to stare at him, yellow eye narrowed. Sungjin scratches harder, the purring increases, and Blue twists to rest his beak unnervingly close to his neck. The vibrations shake Sungjin’s chest and Nayeon dislodges herself from the two of them and mimes for Sungjin to hug Blue.

“If he bites off a finger, I’m making you pay for the regrowth.”

Blue’s beak digs into his back, and his head is almost uncomfortably heavy, but Sungjin keeps scratching. The purring intensifies and Nayeon shoots both of them a thumbs up from behind the two of them.

“Well, buddy, looks like we’re stuck together.”

Blue lets out what is undeniably a sigh and nudges Sungjin’s hand to keep scratching.

“Oooh, my boys!” Nayeon squeals and rushes over to squish the two of them in a firm hug.

The sharp point of Blue’s beak is digging painfully into his shoulder and his forehead smarts from where one of Nayeon’s horns had smacked into him.

_Hers. _He likes the sound of that.

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/everywinter1)/[CC](https://curiouscat.me/everywinter)


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